Praha Day 3 Random thoughts & photos.

Puppeteer on Charles Bridge

Dobrý den! That's Hello in Czech. We are slowly picking up a few words in Czech but believe me- there is absolutely NO similarity to English or French... not one tiny bit. We will certainly not be fluent when we leave here. But we are managing very well as most people speak some English. We've yet to have any major problems. Everyone seems friendly and willing to help out a tourist! And we are learning the important things we need to know. Like when you get on the Tram, you have to validate your ticket in the little box/machine. If not you can face a steep fine if caught. Luckily we didn't get caught. The gal on the desk at our hotel has been most friendly and helpful, we chat with her each time we go in and out. (I think she still feels bad about the mixup in my reservation.) Last night we were asking her about a different tram line we needed to take today and she saw our ticket  from yesterday. She said "You did not staple your ticket!!!!" Staple our ticket?? What the? Then we figured out that staple must mean stamp or validate. And she explained, yes, insert your ticket in the machine on the bus. If you get caught with a ticket not "stapled" you would get a fine of 700CK (about $40.00). I laughed and said "Oh wouldn't they take pity on a poor tourist if it was their first day here, and they didn't know?" "No!" she replied. "They take pity on no one..." You can be sure we'll be stapling our tickets from now on...

Many types of tours available, like this classic car, or on a segway...

Steep streets... seems we're always going up or down steps..

No troubles with the food either. Many places have English translations on the menu or photos of the dish, or both, so that makes it easy to order. We have yet to try any real "Czech food", but have enjoyed pizza, salads, French Onion soup, and last night I had a delicious Thai chicken dish. We've had typical European breakfasts - thick yoghurt (like eating a bowl of sour cream), Muesli, fresh fruit salad, croissants and cafe au lait which I guess is the only milk I'm going to see here! There's no such thing as a glass of cold milk to drink.... I am missing my milk. We've tried Czech beer- Laura can't get over the fact that you can walk around in public here with a beer, or a drink of liquor in your hand...




We also have figured out the whole electrical thing- adapters, converters, etc. Laptops and camera battery chargers need only an adapter to fit their European wall outlets. Anything else like a curling iron or straightener needs a converter as well to convert our 110 voltage to their 220. We had a few anxious moments when we couldn't get my laptop plug into the adapter but finally got it - just a tight fit! Whew! And we just discovered her straightener will not work at all... not sure why...
So all in all we are doing well. It is now Sunday morning. Laura has gone off to do her first interview for her assignment, and I will meet up with her later at the Jewish Quarter where we'll spend the afternoon. Then she registers for her course tonight,

We spied this fountain pool and sat down to cool our feet- within minutes we had
lots of company!

meets the group and moves in with her roommate for the week. She is with the other Canadian, so that's nice. We are anxious to see where everyone else is from... For those of you who don't know, Laura is doing a Foreign Correspondency course here- that's why we're in Prague. Each participant (there are 15, from all over the world) must do an actual assignment while on the course. They chose their own topics and must set up interviews, meetings, etc.
to get their material to write the story. Should be interesting... Laura's story centres around religion and the church.

This little cutie was happy to pose for me...

There are so many beautiful churches and cathedrals here (many now used only for musical concerts) yet the majority of the country is now atheist. Of course their years under the Communists was a big factor. It will be interesting to see how she makes out, getting info...
I'm off now to Old Town to explore a bit on my own and meet up with her in a while.  Oh,  yes, it's sunny and hot again today.

Peace,
Linda

"Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind." ~ Seneca